The teenager's mother was absent for her first appearance in court but was present on Thursday. She also would not speak to the media.

After court, Ranisha Wright's lawyer, Samuel Jones, said he has 10 days to decide if he will file a motion to request a mental evaluation for the teenager, who admitted to police that she was with her cousin and Richardson when Trenary was shot.

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Wright's family speaks about McKinney Wright Jr., who has been charged with first-degree murder in connection with the death of Phil Trenary.
Memphis Commercial Appeal

Also in court was Jennifer Nichols, chief homicide prosecutor with the Shelby County District Attorney General's office, who said she could not comment on the pending case.

Trenary was shot Sept. 27 as he walked on South Front Street after a chamber event. He was pronounced dead at the Regional Medical Center.

Police have not said how Richardson was developed as a suspected, but he was the first suspect arrested. His arrest followed a high-speed chase across the city that ended in South Memphis, where he crashed the stolen pickup investigators believe was used in the crime into other vehicles, injuring several people.

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Quandarius Richardson appears via video during his arraignment at the Shelby County Courthouse on Oct. 1.(Photo11: Joe Rondone/The Commercial Appeal)

Richardson, according to the affidavit of complaint, told police he was accompanied by the Wright cousins on the night Trenary was shot.

All three waived their Miranda Rights and told police they were driving around Downtown looking for someone to rob, the affidavit said. Investigators have not disclosed which of the three they believe fired on Trenary or who was driving the stolen white Ford F-150 pickup.

However, family members for the three were surprised to learn their loved were charged in the civic leader's death.

McKinney Wright, his family said, is developmentally delayed and has the mind of a young teenager.

Richardson's aunt, Kesha Patterson, said that the charges made no sense to her and that her nephew had not had any prior legal trouble.